Longshore union argues arena vote goes “too far, too fast”

While the Seattle and King County Councils’ are moving ahead with an agreement to build a new NBA arena, an attorney for the Longshore union argues “They’ve gone too far, too fast, too quickly.”

>>>Related: City, county council poised to approve arena agreement

In an interview with Ross and Burbank, attorney Peter Goldman laid out the arguments for a legal challenge the union plans to file against the city and county.

Goldman says the councils have broken the law by agreeing to a specific site before any environmental review has taken place, even though the Memorandum of Understanding with investor Chris Hansen calls for a review along with a study of alternative sites. And he argues that even though Hansen has agreed to fund a $40 million transportation impact study, it might not be enough.

“We don’t know what the impacts are, we don’t know where they’re going to be, and we’re not sure that $40 million is going to be enough to mitigate the impact,” Goldman says.

Goldman also points to studies showing the arena would need to stage nearly 200 events a year including concerts, with crowds flocking to the area regularly hours before they begin, crippling traffic and commerce in the area.

“For 180 days a year 5 to 6,000 cars added on to the Mariners, added on to all the other events we have, at what point has the straw broken the back of the camel?” he asks. “The essence of preserving a manufacturing, industrial and port area is the ability for freight and people to move around quickly. Time is money for truckers, time is money for the port.”

Goldman also argues the agreement with Hansen bypasses proper public process by giving in to the demands of a private person.

Goldman said the lawsuit was not only a matter of defending industrial lands, but of demanding good government from elected leaders.

“The most important point is no one here is saying no to an arena. We’re saying no to an arena chosen by Hansen in a specific location.”